Jestico + Whiles create subterranean speakeasy and restaurant below historic Corn Exchange
by Kim Megson | 19 Jan 2018
– James Dilley, head of hospitality and interior design at Jestico + Whiles
After transforming a historic Scottish bank building into a bar, architecture studio Jestico + Whiles have unveiled their latest hospitality conversion project: a steak and gin restaurant built within Manchester’s Victorian-era Corn Exchange.
Conceived as a hidden speakeasy serving 60 types of gin, Alston Bar & Beef will see diners must enter via a discrete entrance into a modest lobby, which is decorated by a large hand-painted mural created by street-artist Tank Petrol.
“From here, an industrial, raw steel staircase studded with etched glass lenses delivers guests to a hidden, subterranean hall, crisscrossed by a web of original and new structure, expressing the complex building above,” explained the firm in a design statement.
“A bar carved from a block of solid marble glows against a backlit screen of glass in medicine bottle amber on which are mounted apothecaries flasks, dispensing bespoke gin infusions. A high-spec show kitchen, with lots of fire and flame, terminates the long views across the dining room.”
Describing the concept for the 160-cover restaurant, James Dilley, head of hospitality and interior design at Jestico + Whiles, said: “Our design draws on the history of the Corn Exchange together with the wider context of the city to create a unique space featuring a dramatic interior environment and distinctive ambiance.”
The practice previously designed The Shilling Brewery Company pub within the former home of the Commercial Bank of Scotland, stripping back the 1920s interior features to highlight the building’s 20ft (6m) high coffered ceilings. They also created an Alston Bar & Beef restaurant in the historic vaults beneath Glasgow Central Station.
Future projects include the forthcoming Edinburgh St James scheme, which will include a striking W Hotel; a highly sustainable five-star hotel resort in Zanzibar; and a leisure district in Oxfordshire created in a disused American air base.
Jestico + Whiles Corn Exchange Manchester Alston Bar & Beef James Dilley
The restaurant is situated inside and below Manchester’s Victorian-era Corn Exchange Credit: Shutterstock
A hand-painted mural created by street-artist Tank Petrol stretches from wall to ceiling
Credit: Jestico + Whiles
Over 60 types of gin are sold at the secret bar Credit: Jestico + Whiles
Credit: Jestido + Whiles
08 Nov 2016
Jestico and Whiles given green light to create leisure district in abandoned air base
20 Jul 2016
W Hotels named as operator for controversial Edinburgh 'ribbon' hotel
13 Jul 2016
Jestico + Whiles design bar and brewery in Scottish bank building
12 Nov 2015
Jestico + Whiles reveal ultra-sustainable design for five-star Zanzibar resort
18 Aug 2015
Jestico + Whiles given green light for controversial ‘ribbon hotel’ in Edinburgh, UK
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